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Recent MCC Grad Erik Sivertsen Seeks Election to College Board

An email to voters of the McHenry County College District from Erik Sivertsen:

Dear Concerned Citizens of McHenry County,

Erik Sivertsen

Did you know that MCC’s Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition by 9% last Thursday?

Did you also know that in that same meeting they approved nearly $4.5 million in additional spending?

The citizens of District 528 are having to make changes and trim their budgets to cope with these tough economic times.

How can our college’s board justify raising tuition beyond the level of both College of Lake County, and Elgin Community College, rather than cut the waste out of the budget?

Several current board members are attempting to make the argument that the state has decreased its funding of the school from 33.3% to only 5%.

Erik Sivertsen's campaign post card. Click to enlarge.

To say that state funding has decreased is a misrepresentation of the facts.

State funding has not increased as quickly as other sources of income, but has remained virtually unchanged throughout the last 7+ years.

Most recently, between 2009-2010 state funding increased by approximately $1.5 mil dollars.

Due to the fact that the revenue from property taxes has increased and the tuition has more than doubled since 2000, the state is now supplying a smaller percentage of the schools gross revenue.

The projected shortfall in next year’s budget was less than 5% of total expenses.

A 5% decrease in funding throughout the budget would not hinder the school’s ability to offer a first-rate education. By seeking alternative sources of revenue, the need to decrease expenses would be even less.

$3.5 mil of the spending approved in the last meeting will go towards remodeling the commons, student lounge, cafeteria, and kitchen.

The focus of the project would be to add a new kitchen for the culinary program.

In coming years the school may have the need to move the culinary program on campus, but at this point the school would be best served by continuing to use the facilities at Woodstock North High School.

This benefits the college and the high school.

MCC is able to develop the culinary program and go through the initial growth stages at a significantly reduced cost. Both schools share part of the costs for the facilities and therefore taxpayers are not forced to pay twice for the same resource.

Beyond the financial shortcomings of this decision, the proposal that they decided on places the new kitchen in the center of the school.

Erik Sivertsen's palm card.

This may seem like a convenient location, but if the culinary program is one of MCC’s fastest growing programs, when it comes time to expand these new facilities, there will be nowhere to go without removing other current facilities or starting over.

My name is Erik Sivertsen and I am running for MCC’s Board of Trustees in the election this Tuesday.

I am currently

a Republican Precinct Committeeman,

the President of MCC’s Students Supporting the Right to Life,

Secretary of MCC’s Political Theory and Debate Group,

a Student Senate Representative, and

a recent Graduate of MCC.

I have walked the halls at MCC the last 3 years, so I know where the school does really well, and I also know where the school could use improvement.

I will fight to meet the needs of the community without increasing taxes or tuition. I will do this by making responsible decisions, and making sure that every dollar spent goes to improve the education of the students.

The election is getting close, and every vote counts! Please help me out by forwarding this email to everyone who lives within McHenry County.

Together we can make a positive impact in our community and in the future students of MCC.